Parking
Follow the unpaved Lost Horse Mine Road from Keys View Road to the Lost Horse Mine Trailhead parking area. An accessible vault toilet is at the trailhead.
Overview
About Lost Horse Mine Trail
Why go
- A striking ten-stamp mill and mining equipment at the turnaround
- A clear shorter option beside the separate Lost Horse Loop
Heads up
- Little shade on a rocky, mostly uphill approach
Lost Horse Mine Trail is a 4-mile out-and-back from the Lost Horse Mine Trailhead to a fenced stamp mill and the mining equipment around it. The route climbs about 550 feet across open desert slopes among Joshua trees, yucca, and scattered boulders. Give it two to three hours, including time at the mine. I’d choose it for the unusual historic destination, not a summit finish. The separate Lost Horse Loop is longer: NPS describes it as 6.2 miles with 1,292 feet of climbing. The four-mile figure includes the mine spur and the return to the lot, but not the loop’s far side. There’s no different descent, so you repeat the final climb on the way back.
Parkwolf’s verdictThe mine is the payoffMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Joshua Tree map
Full mapElevation4,593–5,075 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
5 active Joshua Tree alerts
- ClosureOasis of Mara Trail closed past the OasisThe Oasis of Mara Trail is closed past the Oasis due to a heavy flooding event; do not continue beyond the Oasis. Check current park conditions before visiting.Official details
- ClosureSR 62 and US 95 closed by floodingFlooding has closed portions of SR 62 and US 95; avoid the closed segments.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Joshua Tree Tour Guide
Your drive to Lost Horse Mine Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Joshua Tree National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Joshua Tree audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Lost Horse Mine and Its Stamp Mill0:00 / 0:26
“Up ahead is the Lost Horse Mine trailhead, for a hike to a surviving timber stamp mill. Choose the four-mile out-and-back for the mine, allowing two to three hours and about five hundred fifty feet of climbing.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Joshua Tree Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Packrat's Time Capsule
- Crystals in the Granite
- The Underground Dam Behind an Oasis
- Stubbe Springs: A Full Day from Juniper Flats
- 89 audio storiesacross Joshua Tree’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bighorn Sheep, Golden Eagle, Desert Tortoise, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 60 trails, 64 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Lost Horse Mine Trail
The walk inFrom the parking area, the track heads east, then southeast, on a mostly gentle climb.
From the parking area, the track heads east, then southeast, on a mostly gentle climb. The dirt and rock tread crosses ridges dotted with boulders and desert plants, with little shade. Near the mine, it follows the north side of a rocky slope and bends around two ravines. That last turn keeps the mill out of view until you’re close. Once you reach it, the short route turns back the way you came; the longer loop carries on around the hill.
At the mineThe destination is a ten-stamp mill with a tall wooden frame, rusted machinery, pumps, and…
The destination is a ten-stamp mill with a tall wooden frame, rusted machinery, pumps, and nearby foundations. Take time to look at the machinery as well as the building; this is more than a walk to a single ruin. The site is fenced for safety. Stay outside the fence: the historic structures are unstable and can crumble under a person’s weight. The mill and equipment make the most interesting photo together, with the hillside around them for scale.
A successful mineLost Horse was one of the few successful operations among the more than 300 mines in what is…
Lost Horse was one of the few successful operations among the more than 300 mines in what is now the park. Johnny Lang bought the mining rights for $1,000, and J.D. Ryan bought out Lang’s partners in 1895. Miners hit a fault in 1905 and lost the main ore vein. The mine changed hands and had long inactive stretches, but it still produced gold and silver over several decades. The site became part of Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936.
Access and heatTake the unpaved Lost Horse Mine Road from Keys View Road to the trailhead parking area.
Take the unpaved Lost Horse Mine Road from Keys View Road to the trailhead parking area. There’s an accessible vault toilet at the trailhead, but no water or food service along the route. Bring your supplies from the start. With so little shade, NPS advises against hiking here in summer heat; cooler conditions make the exposed climb much more comfortable. Pets aren’t allowed on Joshua Tree’s hiking trails.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Joshua Tree
129 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
15 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
413 sightingsDesert TortoiseMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
275 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
47 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
32 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Joshua Tree. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
